BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 02: Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Jeff Horn of Australia exchange punches during the WBO World Welterweight Title Fight at Suncorp Stadium on July 2, 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Manny Pacquiao is set to return to the ring just over a year since his last match, when he faces secondary welterweight world champion Lucas Matthysse this summer in Malaysia.
Pacquiao and Matthysse’s fight will be held in Kuala Lumpur on July 14, both sides announced Monday evening.
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“Signed, sealed and delivered: Proud to officially announce that WBA welterweight world champion Lucas Matthysse will put his title on the line against Manny Pacquiao in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday night July 14 (U.S. time),” Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Matthysse, announced on his social media.
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The kickoff press conference to promote the fight is scheduled for April 18 in Manila, the capital of the 5-foot5, 146-pound Pacquiao’s home country of the Philippines. Another presser is set to take place April 20 in Kuala Lumpur.
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Pacquiao has also reportedly acquired a new trainer recently. The 39-year-old former welterweight and lightweight champion — who also serves as a Senator of the Philippines — has replaced his longtime trainer, International Boxing Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, with lifelong friend and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez.
Roach and Pacquiao had been working together since the first time the boxer competed in the United States in 2001. Roach had trained Pacquiao for his past 34 fights.
Pacquiao allegedly decided to switch trainers because he became upset with statements Roach had made to reporters after his last fight.
On July 2, 2017, Pacquiao lost his version of the welterweight world belt by highly controversial decision to Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia. Pacquiao asked the World Boxing Organization to review the result of the fight.
The Pacquiao-Horn match averaged more than 3 million viewers, and the main event’s ratings reached up to 4.4 million.
Argentine Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs), 35, is a 5-foot-6 fighter whose aggressive style helped him win a vacant secondary welterweight title on January 27 with an eighth-round knockout of Tewa Kiram, and up-and-coming fighter from Thailand.
Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) is the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight classes: lightweight, flyweight, featherweight and welterweight. He has been serving as a Senator in the Philippines since June 2016, and previously served as a member of the country’s House of Representatives.
“We had to schedule this fight so the senate wasn’t in session and wouldn’t interfere with Manny’s training,” Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz stated.
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